NEW DELHI — A suspended Indian cricket board chief is guilty of failing to act against a player who violated a code of conduct, but not of spot-fixing or impeding investigations, a Supreme Court committee looking into corruption allegations in the Indian Premier League (IPL) said Monday. The committee said the suspended cricket board president Narainswarmy Srinivasa was aware of the code violation, but failed to act, according to details of the report that have been made public.
“This individual (Srinivasan) along with four other BCCI officials was aware of the violation of the players' code of conduct by individual 3 (name not disclosed), but no action was taken against individual 3 by any of the aforesaid officials who were aware of this infraction,” said the report.
The committee found Srinivasan's son-in-law and Chennai Super Kings official Gurunath Meiyappan guilty of being in contact with illegal bookmakers.
The court also noted that Meiyappan's role as a team official was not in doubt, refuting claims that he was just a “cricket enthusiast.”
Justice Mukul Mudgal's committee report said also that Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra had been in touch with bookmakers and that IPL chief executive Sundar Raman had failed to report betting by Meiyappan and Kundra, despite knowing about it.
The Supreme Court has not disclosed nine other names under investigation by the committee. The case is due to come up for hearing on Nov. 24.
According to IPL rules, a team can be suspended if its officials bring the tournament into disrepute.
Srinivasan, who is a director of the India Cements company that owns Chennai Super Kings, was asked to step aside as president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India during an investigation into spot-fixing in the 2013 IPL.
Srinivasan came under scrutiny after Meiyappan was arrested for two weeks by Mumbai Police for allegedly making contact with bookies and passing team information to them.
Meiyappan was cleared by the BCCI's own panel last year, but a petition from the Cricket Association of Bihar led to the Bombay High Court declaring that panel “illegal and unconstitutional.”
The CAB then took the issue to the Supreme Court, which ordered an investigation into the role of Srinivasan and 12 others in May.
The Supreme Court gave the Mudgal committee all investigative powers, including search and seizure of relevant documents, and recording evidence, but not the power to make arrests.
The fixing controversy erupted after a clutch of cricketers, including former Test bowler Shantakumaran Sreesanth, were arrested for allegedly giving away a minimum number of runs in exchange for money from bookies.
Aditya Verma of the Cricket Association of Bihar, maintained despite Monday's report that he should be sacked and said the affair had tarnished the organization.
The report was expected to pave the way for Srinivasan to resume his position as head of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which was scheduled to hold elections later this month. — Agencies
